Wisconsin's Route Markers

From the earliest times of numbered and marked state trunk highways in Wisconsin,
the standard state route marker has been the shape of a triangle, more
or less. Early on,
the triangle was taller than it was wide, had no horizontal rectangular
element, and had the words "STATE
TRUNK HIGHWAY " across
the top and a stylized "WIS" under the route number. (See Standard
Highway Markers: 1921 for photos of some of these signs.)

These early route markers would either be erected on stand-alone posts
or on telephone and electric line poles along the highway. (Utility poles
close by the side of the travelled-way were much more common in the first
half of the 20th century.) By the 1930s, the rectangular "box" portion
of the route marker had been added so that the route designation could
be displayed with a larger font. The heading "WIS" was moved to the top
of the triangle at this time.

In the early 1960s the traditional Wisconsin "cutout" triangle-and-rectangle
was then incorporated with a square black sign "blank," as it
is today. For more than three decades, the Wisconsin state highway marker
has remained relatively unchanged.

This page attempts to illustrate the many and varies types of route markers
used on Wisconsin's highways, from Interstate, US and State Trunk highways
to National Forest routes, Great Lakes Circle Tours, Rustic Roads, county
roads and others. Pick a type of route marker to jump directly to it:

The 1921 and 1938 state trunk highway route markers and the earliest
version of the county trunk highway marker were modified from scans of
images from early Wisconsin Highway Commission maps and publications.

The second earliest state trunk highway markers ("STH-15")
was reproduced from a Rand McNally & Co. "Junior Auto Trails
Map of Wisconsin," 1924.

Many thanks to John Repp who provided photos of older versions of the
Wisconsin US Highway marker and other guidance for this page.

Additional Information:

For more information on Wisconsin's state highway (and other) route
markers, visit the following off-site sources:

"Dedicated to the past, present and future of the Wisconsin State Trunk Highway system as well as other highways and routes throughout the Badger State. This website is intended to be a clearinghouse of information on Wisconsin's highways, from easily-recognized facts to the little-known trivia. It is also meant to change as the state highway system changes."